Can I Sleep On Your Couch?
by Special Agent Lindsey
Summary: Long story short, Elliot's now bunking with Liv. Yeah...
1. Chapter 1 Go ahead&call your girlfriend!

So, this takes place now. And yes, they've been partners 15 years. I found that out today when I was watching USA's SVU man-a-thon earlier and an episode from the 7th season said that they were partners for eleven years. Long time, huh?

Well you know the drill. SVU doesn't belong to me; it belongs to Dick Wolf, Neal Baer, and NBC, yada, yada, yada. I'm not sure who the show NCIS belongs to, but I made a quick reference to it, so yeah, it's not mine either. Speaking of which, does anyone know of any good NCIS fanfics? If so, mind giving me a title or two. Thanks!

Have fun, love!

* * *

Olivia Benson was sitting on her couch watching TV when her cell phone rang.

"Benson."

"Liv," it was Elliot. "Can you come get me?"

"Yeah, El, where are you?" She asked getting up.

"Kathy's…"

"Home?"

"Kathy's."

"Oh, uh, ok. I'm on my way."

She always waited for him to hang up first just in case, and before they did she heard Kathy yell, "Yeah, go ahead and call your girlfriend!" and something being thrown, hit its target, and Elliot swearing in anger and pain.

Olivia rolled her eyes, smirked, and grabbed the keys off the counter as she walked out the door. Kathy was so dramatic and annoying.

Fifteen minutes later, Olivia's black Mustang pulled up to the curb where Elliot was standing in front of his house. She popped the trunk; he put his stuff in, and climbed into the front seat.

"What'd you do?" Liv asked pulling back onto the street.

"Called her Olivia."

She couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry; I shouldn't laugh."

"No, you shouldn't. She left me for it."

Olivia took her eyes off the road to look at him.

"El…." She said dropping all humor and replacing it with sympathy.

"It's fine. Third time she abandoned our marriage. Guess we just weren't meant to work out." He said without remorse, but finalization.

Olivia put her eyes back on the road and gave his hand a firm squeeze. He looked out the window and didn't let go. He just needed something to hold on to.

"Liv, I know this is a little weird, but can I ask a favor?"

"El, we're best friends; what do you need?"

"Can I sleep on your couch? It'll only be for a little bit, until I can find a place, and we work most of the time anyway."

"Of course."

"Really?"  
"Yeah, Elliot. It's fine."

They pulled into the garage of her apartment building. They were walking towards the elevator to go up to the actual building when he pulled her into a hug.

"Thank you, Olivia," he said in her ear. She gave him a tight squeeze.

"Anytime, El."

They walked upstairs as if it was an everyday thing.

The dynamic duo was sitting on the couch, eating pizza, and going over a case file. It was late and they were both bored.

"I'm sick of working. Want a beer?" Liv asked, standing up and heading for the fridge.

"Yeah, thanks," Elliot said, putting the papers back in the manila folder and putting it back on the coffee table.

Olivia handed him a Bud Light and grabbed the remote. He was watching her flip through the channels, unsatisfied with everything that was on, and chewing on the inside of her bottom lip, not even realizing that she was doing the old habit. He leaned back into the right side of the couch, spread his left arm onto the back of it, and took a big swig of his beer, relaxing. He was so sick of staying with Kathy when he didn't want to be with her. Yes, they have kids together, but the twins, Kathleen, and Maureen were all old enough to understand, and Eli was so young that maybe it'd be easier for him this way. He wouldn't remember the divorce when he was older and he wouldn't grow up in a loveless house, always hearing his parents fighting, and being around the tension all the time. Elliot worked for the Special Victims Unit; he knew it could mess up a kid.

Olivia settled on _NCIS_. Ziva and Tony _still_ aren't together?! Olivia thought to herself, slouching down into the couch. She could feel Elliot's eyes on her but she was used to it. After 15 years, you don't mind his eyes boring into your skull. It actually feels strange when he goes too long without doing so.

Two episodes of _NCIS_ and four beers later, Liv stood up, and announced she was going to bed. She grabbed a pillow and two blankets from a closet and put them on the couch, bid Elliot goodnight, and walked into her room. She shut the door and slid down it onto the floor, hugging herself around the middle. The whole time they were watching that show she was thinking about what happened at Sealview. She very rarely thought about it anymore, but some nights she couldn't help it. She couldn't get the image of Lowell Harris sexually assaulting her in the basement of the prison when she was undercover out of her mind. It seemed to be burned into her retinas. It was poison to her stomach and she wanted to scrub herself clean, throw up, and cry all at the same time. What if something happened again? No, it wouldn't. Elliot rarely left her side any more. He would never let anything happen to her. She knew that. He wasn't there then, but Fin showed up. A little late, but he stopped anything too bad from happening, didn't he?

An hour later Elliot awoke with a start. He heard Olivia screaming and crying in her room. He jumped off the couch, and threw open the bedroom door, running in.

"Please don't," she cried in her sleep.

Elliot shook her, trying to wake her.

"Liv, Liv, honey, it's just a dream. Wake up," he said shaking her harder. She woke up, trembling, tears running down her face. She looked up at him and broke down, sobbing. He pulled her into his arms, lifting her off the bed and holding her bridal style. He'd known her for over a decade, they knew each other inside and out, and yet he'd never seen her so vulnerable-looking.

"What was it about?" He asked, pushing the hair out of her face.

"Sealview," she answered into his shoulder, trying to stop crying and making a fool of herself.

He shifted himself to where he was more comfortable on the bed, putting his back against the firm headboard. He was going to be here for a while.

"Shhh, you're alright now," he said, rubbing his thumbs in circles on her back, doing what he used to do to his kids when they were crying and upset.

An hour later he felt her breathing slow, and eventually fall into the steady pattern of sleep. Not long after he was asleep too, still holding his partner like a baby.


	2. Chapter 2 Really Great Bodywash

A/N: Sorry, this chapter's kinda long and I know the Casey Novak guest appearance is kind of random and pointless, but whatever, I like her better than Alex Cabot and if she can't be on the show she should have a small cameo in here!

I'm going to avoid a question about this chapter and the next: Why are they bickering more than often?

Ok, dude, I don't know if you've noticed this or not, but their characters have known each other for 15 years, not just the 11 seasons, but 15 years, and they're around each other a whole lot as it is. Now he's around her even more, since he's staying at her apartment. I don't know about you guys, but I bicker with people I'm around literally 24/7.

But anyway, carry on. Hope you like it. Reviews? I love you(:

Disclaimer: Not mine, it's Dick's.

Tell me tell me tell me something I don't know, something I don't know, something I don't know! Ha, sorry.

Olivia's alarm went off at five the next morning. She opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was the crook of Elliot's neck, she picked up her head, still heavy from crying, and saw the tear stains on his white tee-shirt. He stirred, but didn't wake up as she tried to reach behind her and turn the alarm off. She twisted her body to try and get out of his arms without waking him, but he clutched her back to him, harder, without even waking up.

"Elliot," she said, shaking his shoulder gently.

He mumbled in response.

"El, time to wake up."

"No," he groaned shifting down to the bed, so that he was no longer sitting, but lying. When he did so, Liv broke loose, rolled over, and turned the alarm off.

"El, come on," she said when she turned back towards him.

"But Liiiiv," he said, throwing his arm back around her.

"But Ellll," she said mocking him.

"Not nice," his voice sounded muffled in the pillow.

"If I have to go this morning, then so do you. Come on, time to get up."

"Wake me up when you get out of the shower. Takes you longer. Girl stuff."

"Alright, fine. But you're hopping straight up and running to the shower when I get out or I'm dumping cold water on you."

"Ok, Mom." She smacked him on the head with a pillow and walked into the bathroom. He was chuckling as she closed the door.

Olivia was applying her lipstick when Elliot walked into her room.

"I smell like lavender."

Olivia stopped what she was doing and laughed.

"Can we go grocery shopping after work? I really don't like smelling like lavender."

"What's wrong with lavender? I smell like lavender."

"But you're a woman. It's ok for you to smell like lavender, but I'm a manly man. Manly men do not smell like lavender!"

"Ok, Mr. Testosterone, we can go shopping later. I need food anyway, you eat."

"This is true."

"You almost ready?"

"I'm ready when you are."

Olivia was slipping on her shoes when he asked the inevitable question that she was waiting for.

"Liv?"

"Hmm?" She replied, not even looking up.

"Look at me," he said, leaning up against her dresser.

When she did as she was told he continued.

"What happened at Sealview?"

"Nothing, Elliot," she sighed, looking back down at her shoes.

"Bullshit. If it was nothing I wouldn't have come running in here last night."

"El, please."

"No. We're talking about it. I'm not leaving until we do."

"I'm changing my shirt," she said, trying to get him to leave.

"Nothing I haven't seen before," he said smiling, referring to the time Olivia had to pose as a prostitute to save him.

She looked at him pointedly.

"Besides, you're not changing your shirt anyway. You like that shirt."

"We're still not talking about it."

"Fine. I guess I better get comfortable then," he said, moving to sit down on the bed.

"You're going to be late," she said, standing up and crossing her arms.  
"So are you."

"I'll leave. I do have a car you know."

"You wouldn't leave me here to walk to work."

"And what makes you so sure of that, Stabler?"

"Because, _Benson, _you're too nice to do that. You would never leave me behind."

"Watch me," she said walking out of the bedroom, across the apartment and out the door.

He sat there, silently calling her bluff. When she wasn't back in five minutes he started getting antsy. Five minutes after that, he went down to the garage to find her car gone.

"She left me," he said to himself, standing alone in the parking garage of the apartment building.

Olivia walked into the precinct ten minutes early and smiled when she saw Elliot's empty desk. She knew it was a little mean to leave him there, but it was kind of funny. In a way……. Ok, maybe she felt bad about it, but he didn't have to know that.

She'd been working on the case file from last night when he walked in. She decided to take the cowardly way out and walk into Cragen's office to hand him the completed file before Elliot had the chance to talk to her. She dawdled in there and when she came back she found him sitting on her desk, waiting for her.

"You left me," he said, as she was sitting in her chair.

"I told you I was going to."

"Our conversation from this morning still isn't over."

"Yes it is."

"We'll see."

Elliot gave Olivia the silent treatment for an hour before he broke. She was ok with the punishment for a little while, because it meant he wasn't pestering her about Sealview, but it got old and started bothering her. The only reason he started talking to her was because he was getting bored with the silence. He didn't like not talking to Olivia. It reminded both of them too much of their falling out a couple of years ago, when she ran off to Oregon to work with that Dean Porter. Ugh, he hated him.

When they got off of work at 11 p.m. the two stopped at Denny's Grocery and Convenience store before going home. They were in the personal care aisle fighting over which body wash Elliot should get.

"Liv, this one's fifty cents cheaper."

"But this one smells really good. See," she said, holding the open bottle for him to smell. She was right, it did smell good, but he would never let her win.

"I'm not paying fifty extra cents to smell nice."

"Fine, I'll give you fifty cents for it. I'm the one who has to smell you anyway."

Someone walked by them and whistled. Elliot turned his head, ready to smart off thinking it was some jerk checking out Olivia, when they saw none other than ex-ADA, Casey Novak, smiling at them.

"Hey lovebirds," she said smiling.

"Casey!" Olivia yelled, hugging her.

"Hey, Olivia," Casey said back.

"And we're not lovebirds."

"Yet," Casey said as they separated.

Olivia and Elliot looked at each other and rolled their eyes at the same time, causing Casey to laugh.

"So have you two been?"

"Great," Elliot replied. "Have you been?"

"I've actually been pretty good. I'm working again, juvenile court."

"That's great, Case," Olivia replied.

"Thanks. So, Elliot how's Kathy and the kids?"

"Well, she hates me, but other than that, they're fine. How's Chester been holding up at Riker's?"

"I go and see him as much as I can. He's doing alright, considering. So you and Kathy split up?"

"As of yesterday, actually."

"Wow. Well, I'm sorry."

"Why? I'm not."

Olivia just looked up at him and arched an eyebrow.

"What? It was going to happen eventually. What better time than now, right?"

"I guess," Olivia said, putting the body wash she preferred into the cart while he wasn't looking.

"Well, I've got some shopping to do. See you guys around," Casey said, pushing her cart down the aisle.

Elliot turned back to his partner, who was standing in front of the cart, trying to block the body wash from sight. Elliot reached behind her and pulled the body wash out of the cart and held it above their heads.

"Ok, Liv, let's make a deal. I'll get the body wash…. If you say I'm the master."

"No!"

"Fine, we're getting the cheap stuff."

"I can get it back without saying it."

"Bet you can't," he said as she started jumping up towards his out stretched arm. He danced away from her whenever she got too close to getting it.

When he thought he had won, Olivia jumped at him, threw an arm around his neck, and grabbed the body wash. He tried to fight back and the two fell onto the floor, laughing like a couple of love struck teenagers, receiving stares from store clerks.

Elliot looked up at Olivia, who had landed on top of him, smiled and grabbed the body wash out of her unsuspecting hand.

"Say it and I'll buy it."

"Ugh, fine. You're the master."

"See, how hard was that?"

"The hardest thing I've ever had to do, actually."

"Uh, Liv?"

"Yeah?"

"Mind getting up so I can put this in the cart?"

"Oh, yeah," she said standing up and helping her partner to his feet.

"It does smell good though," he said, pushing the cart toward the check out aisle.

When they got home, Olivia went straight to bed. Elliot on the other hand could not do so. It wasn't that he wasn't tired, because he was exhausted, and it wasn't that the couch wasn't comfortable, because boy, it was; he just wasn't used to sleeping alone.

Just laying there was boring him, and he was getting slap happy from sleep deprivation, so he decided to aggravate Liv. He always found that amusing.

_Liv! Wakey wakey sunshine! - El_, he texted her.

Two minutes later, he got a response.

_What? - Liv_

He chuckled quietly. This was going to be fun.

_Marry me? - El_

_ What?! - Liv_

_ But I love you sugarcakes (: -El_

Liv read the message, grabbed her robe, and stormed out to the living room.

"You woke me up? To propose to me? Seriously, Elliot, I'm fucking exhausted!" She cussed very seldom, but she hadn't slept properly in ages, and she was in a very restful sleep when he woke her up.

"Jeeze, I guess that was a no."

"YES, IT'S A NO, ELLIOT!"

"Ever heard of letting a man down easy?!" He said, burying his face in the pillow, shaking with laughter, and trying to play it off as fake sobs. He then felt her jump on his back, land wrong, and they flipped off of the couch. He caught himself with one arm before he landed straight on her and the other hand was under her head so that she wouldn't break it.

"This is not funny," she said, trying not to laugh.

"Then why are you smiling?" He said, cheesing like a lunatic himself.

"Because I can smell your body wash that I picked out and it smells _really _good," she said, unintentionally making it sound like she was surprised her clothes were still on.

"Guess those commercials really are right," he said, smirking.


	3. Chapter 3 One Hot Date

Disclaimer: Yeah, I don't own…obviously. Dick Wolf and Neal Baer and all those cool people over there do.

"Liv, I'm home," Elliot yelled walking into her apartment. He'd been there for seven weeks and he was still having trouble finding an apartment and he felt horrible about it. Especially since he was breaking his number one rule in life- don't fall in love with Olivia Benson again. He fell hard for her once before and it never went away, but he taught himself to stifle it. Now it was getting harder and harder to do so as the days went by. He also felt bad about the whole crashing at her house thing too, of course, so he made it up to her by paying all the rent, against her stubborn will.

"Hey, can you get this?" she asked walking out of her room in a little black dress, holding her hair up with one hand and holding a necklace around her throat with the other.

"Uhmmm…Uh. Yeah," he said, taking the necklace and clasping it behind her neck.

"Date tonight," she said when she realized she hadn't explained why she was so dressed up. He is not looking at you like that, Olivia, her conscience scolded her. She knew better than to get her hopes up with Elliot. All he ever did was hurt her, even if he didn't mean to and had no idea he was.

"Who is he?" He asked, involuntarily stiffening and sounding cold.

"His name's Edward Carpenter. He's a fireman," she said, keeping her back towards him and walking towards the bathroom to finish getting ready. No, no, no, no! This is not happening, she thought to herself. She needed a life and Edward seemed like an alright guy, but she could not loose Elliot. She knew though that he was uncomfortable, for whatever reason.

The doorbell rang and Elliot stood up and answered it before Olivia could stop him.

"Hey, Edward, come in and have a seat. Liv'll be right out," Elliot said politely, gesturing to the couch. Olivia could hear the malice in it and walked out to see Elliot leaning against the counter and giving him the stare-down and Edward shifting around uncomfortably.

Olivia was standing behind the couch and caught Elliot's eye.

"What're you doing?!" She mouthed to him. Her only response was a cheeky grin. She inwardly groaned.

"Want a beer, Carpenter?" Elliot asked, turning around and grabbing two cans from the fridge, shaking one like crazy.

"Yeah, that'd be great. So, who are you?"

"I'm Officer Elliot Stabler, Liv's best friend and partner. I live here, by the way, so no hibbity-dibbity here tonight, buddy," he said, handing Edward the shaken up can, "and I _will _be waiting up for her."

Olivia was burning with fury and embarrassment. God, he was such an ass!

"Uh, I'll have her back by one?"

"Try midnight, hot shot," he said, as Edward's can of beer exploded all over him.

The minute Edward stormed out of the apartment Olivia marched up to Elliot and smacked him in the face, tears of anger and frustration running down her face. Damn it, she hated it when she got mad to the point where she actually cried. It made her feel weak.

"Why'd you do that?!" She screamed at him.

He was just staring at her. He didn't know what to say.

"Oh, now you have nothing to say! Now that you've run one of the very few nice guys that are left out of my apartment! Elliot, I'm 42 years old. 42! Do you seriously think it's easy for me to get a decent date? Huh?"

"Livvy…"

"Don't you 'Livvy' me, Elliot Stabler! I've waited and waited for who I couldn't have and I'm trying to move on here! Let me!" She screamed at him, before he grabbed her face with both of his hands and his lips crashed down onto hers.

She gasped and threw her arms around his neck, kissing him back. He moved his arms down to her waist and held her close and hard to him. He backed her up against a wall and she let him pick her up and push her against it. She didn't want him to ever stop kissing her. She finally had him and the thought of ever losing him was terrifying.

His lips left hers, but he didn't put her down or back away, he just wanted to look at her. What he saw sent butterflies through his stomach. He hadn't had butterflies in a long time. She looked gorgeous to him- eyes still wet from crying, cheeks rosy from yelling then his unsuspected kiss, her hair was curled, kind of how it looked when she first woke up in the morning, and she was looking at him with such love and longing that he couldn't help but smile and kiss her again.


	4. Chapter 4 Wake Up Call

**A/N: Keep on a readin'! (: **

**Hope you guys like this one so far. **

**The years thing- I know, it's so mixed up. I've gotten things with other years and then what I heard on the show. Who knows? I wonder if the producers even do…. **

**Speaking of those fine people, they own SVU and the characters of SVU, not me.**

**Dude, no new episodes until March 3****rd****. I know, tragically tragic, so hopefully Dick and Neal have something good for us(: **

**Oh, and I have no idea what Elliot's daughter, Maureen is up to in the series. They haven't exactly involved her in a while, so I put her in med-school in this chapter. **

**Reviews? Thanks! **

"El," she whispered to him that night, shaking his shoulder. She made him sleep on the couch, because she didn't know where they stood and needed time to think.

"Hmm," he groaned.

"Wake up."

"No," he groaned, rolling over, putting his back to her.

"Please," she said, putting her chin on his shoulder.

He smiled and rolled over to look at her.

"What is it, Liv?" He asked, rubbing the sleepies out of his eyes.

"What are we doing?" She asked looking him straight in the eye. She didn't want to cower away; it might make her look like a loser. She knew it was stupid and immature, but she didn't want to look like a fool in front of Elliot, even if they had known each other since the beginning of time.

He grabbed her and pulled her down next to him.

"Sleeping," he said into her hair.

"I'm really not sure how this is going to work."

"It's easy- close your eyes, stop talking, relax, and eventually you'll conk out."

"You know that's not what I mean, Elliot."

"I know. I'm just not talking about it right now."

"Well, when will you?" She asked looking up at him. He had his eyes closed and his head tilted down towards hers. If she wanted to, she could stretch her back about two inches and she could kiss him, easy. But she didn't. She needed to figure out where they stood.

"Tomorrow is another day."

"Don't quote Gone with the Wind at me, Elliot Stabler; I'm serious about this."

"Ha, you knew that?"

"Don't change the subject."

"How'd you know that? The only reason I knew that was Elizabeth's play."

"Elliot!"

"Fine."

"Ok," she said getting comfortable. It wasn't difficult to do so. Elliot was rock hard from years of being a cop, but he would always be like a big teddy bear.

"Where do you want to stand?" He asked finally getting serious.

"I don't know," she muttered into his chest.

"Yes you do. You just don't want to tell me."

She didn't say anything to that. She knew he was right. She _wanted _to be with him. Badly. She just didn't know if she _could _be with him.

He shook her lightly, trying to get her to answer.

She didn't know what to say and she made the mistake of looking up at him, his face inches from hers.

"I . . . . . don't know," she said, looking into those blue eyes she'd come to love. Those eyes could make her say anything.

"Liar," he said smirking. He knew from the way she kissed him back that she wanted him. He just didn't want to seem like an ass, jumping to conclusions.

Her big brown eyes just looked so confused, and he felt bad about causing that confusion, but he wasn't going to not have this conversation. He'd jumped for her, and now he wanted results from putting his neck on the line. If she turns him down, he's screwed. He'd have ruined everything- his job, his friendship. The only thing he'd have left was his kids, but he'd only gotten to see Richard, Elizabeth, Eli, and Kathleen twice since him and Kathy split up, and one of those he barely counted because it was when he was picking up divorce papers they'd started filing before Eli was born and had never finished, but now were. Maureen was busy with med school, so she was hardly ever around, which he understood, but it still sucked.

Instead of answering him she stretched up and kissed him. It was nothing like the one before- simpler and casual, as if they did this everyday. It was easy, easier than it was with anyone else, they both realized.

She pulled back, and put her head back up against his chest, her face a little squished against it. He hugged her, pressing her closer to him, which she found impossible considering her small couch. They were lying on their sides and he had to keep a good hold on her so that she could move without falling flat on her face.

"So, that's where we stand," he said, grinning in triumph. It wasn't a question, but she answered anyway.

"Looks like it," she said, before she closed her eyes and went to sleep.

It was three in the morning when Olivia's work/cell phone rang on the coffee table. Her Cragen ringtone woke him up and he knew it was hers. Without thinking about it, he reached over and answered it.

"Benson's phone. Stabler speaking," he said sleepily into the receiver. Damn it, he thought. He'd been dreaming about the time he went undercover as a smuggler and he was in the middle of Olivia saving his ass. Wow, what a dream, he thought to himself.

"What the hell are you doing at Olivia's apartment at 3 in the morning?! You know what, never mind. We've got work to do. Corner of 1st and 10. You two get dressed and be here ASAP," Cragen said, hanging up on him.

Oh, shit, Elliot though. He hadn't told Cragen where he was staying; just that he wasn't with Kathy anymore. He was going to kill him, if not both of them for him staying here, let alone the fact that they were together.

He put the phone down and started kissing her face, trying to wake her up.

"Mmmh." She had woken up, smiling, and kissing him back.

"Ugh," he groaned.

"What?" She asked against his lips.

"We can't do this right now. Cragen just called," he said back, still kissing her.

"Nooo," she groaned pulling away from him.

"You know something funny? That was my exact thoughts when you just pulled back," he said grinning, pulling back. He had a certain glint in his eyes that she had only seen earlier this evening. That's definitely not his knee! She thought.

She didn't say anything and walked off to change.


End file.
